Does it add up ?

Old hand Tony Lennon of the broadcast union BECTU has penned the organisation's response to the BBC Trust's consultation on making BBC Studios a commercial subsidiary.

Here's his conclusion:

FUNDAMENTAL CONTRADICTIONS 

BBC Studios will find that many aspects of its operation are at odds with the BBC’s public purposes, principles, and practices:

An obligation of commercial efficiency, and profit-production, will conflict with the need for programme-makers to take risks in the interests of range and diversity, rather than backing sure-fire hits.

The company’s presence as a commercial entity within the BBC’s structure will expose it to many on-costs that competitors either don’t carry, or pay less for.

Public obligations like providing training for the whole industry and achieving employment diversity, are at odds with the practical financial realities of the sector in which BBC Studios will have to compete.

Fulfilling the public purposes incumbent on the BBC - including citizenship, education and learning, stimulating the UK’s regions, and delivering new technology to the public - can only be delivered by BBC Studios if it incurs costs that none of its competitors have to carry.